Laird says, “When they enter the room, they give me a hug and then we talk about anything from their family to what it was like overseas or if they got a civilian job upon returning. Sometimes the line is so long that we have to turn people away.”

In 1950 Laird joined the air force, and then started volunteering for the Salvation Army with her late husband, Earnest. Once the Iraq War broke out in 2003, she asked the chief of the foundation if she could go to Fort Hood.

“They tell me how much my hug meant to them and how they’ll never forget it,” Laird said. “A lot of [them were] leaving home for the first time and some of their families couldn’t be there to see them off.”

Trish, the wife of a soldier, says “The Hug Lady is the last one they see before deployment and the first civilian they see when they return. She’s there at 2 am, even if only a couple soldiers are on the flight.”

Laird’s son Richard Dewess started a GoFundMe account to raise money for her hospital bills, and they have already raised $85,000 in just 2 weeks.